Medway Labour are standing up for residents of Rochester & Strood to oppose Conservative and Liberal Democrat cuts to Medway public services. The Conservatives have announced massive cuts to local government spending which hit the poorest and most disadvantaged in our community. Cuts to Sure Start, Libraries and education budgets will be opposed by Labour.

George Osborne delivered a Budget that will throw people out of work, hold back economic growth and damage the public services we all rely on. The Tories have broken their promise to be fair, with tax increases and benefit cuts that will hit hardest at the people who can least afford it.

These cuts will affect you, your family and the people around Rochester & Strood. This Budget will affect everyone:

• Growth next year would have been higher and unemployment lower with the Labour responsible, credible plan to halve the deficit over four years
• Increasing VAT from 17.5% to 20%, so that higher prices will be paid in the shops by everyone, from pensioners to the unemployed
• Cuts to tax credits, and cutting back free school meals
• Cuts to the disability living allowance, cuts to help for the jobless
• Freezing Child Benefit for the next three years

Cuts include an immediate 6 millon pound Tory slashing of Medway services including:

• Scrapping of free swimming for pensioners and primary school pupils
• Cutting of Sure start, free school meals, parenting support and breakfast clubs
• GBP 830,000 cuts to Medway Primary and Secondary School grants. Including Grammar schools.
• Regneration Projects across Rochester & Strood Riverside slashed
• GBP 9m new bridge at Stoke Crossing axed
• Old people services including housing, personal care and meals on wheels services
• 50-100 staff cut from Council front line services

Cllr Glyn Griffiths, Labour Group Spokesperson for Finance stated,

'The Tories promised during the election that they would not increase VAT, and the Lib Dems said that it would hit the poorest the hardest. Therefore it is no surprise that it is VAT that is shooting up. This is despite the fact that public finances are GBP 8bn better than predicted.

'As Medway faces such a drastic reduction in funding for services, residents have a right to know what services the local Tories are going to cut to manage this. We have already seen the free school meals for primary school children cut before the budget, so what is next in the firing line?

'However, the big issue is that service cuts equals job losses. That is not only a disaster for individual families, but also means that spending will fall which runs the real risk of sending the country back into recession. This is a reckless budget that only focuses on cuts, which will hit poorer families hardest and bring Medway regeneration to a halt.'

It is important to set the record straight, the Tories can't encourage economic growth, and reduce the deficit, by throwing people out of their jobs and abandoning support for business. People will be worrying about what these cuts will mean to their livelihoods, and for the future of their family.

These cuts will affect you, your family and the people around you. We call on Conservative MPs to reject this proposal and not hurt the poorest in our society